Review published on September 27, 2017.

Deadly Burial would probably be termed a novella as it has the equivalent of 149 pages but it felt like a longer read because it has so much packed into it. DI Chris Sigurdsson is sent to a remote island called Salvation to investigate the (possibly) mysterious death of a professional wrestler and a series of unusual and interesting things happen to him during his time there.

I’m not a fan of wrestling but did actually find myself being drawn into the whole theatre of it. However, the main reason I chose to read this book was the setting. I love reading about island life and especially remote ones. Salvation is a quite bleak and desolate sort of place and yet this huge wrestling event takes place there. There’s also the added interest of the huge rabbit colony that lives there.

I liked Chris a lot. He has his troubles but he’s hugely likable. And the officer he is sent to Salvation to help is also a great character. Carin Mason is prickly and feisty but she and Sigurdsson end up forming a great alliance.

This is quite a hard-hitting thriller. No punches are pulled. Along with the story of the two detectives trying to work out whether the wrestler, Vic Valiant, was murdered or not, we are treated to sections from Vic’s memoirs. It makes for quite an unusual and unique read and I thought it was very well done.

As this book is billed as a DI Chris Sigurdsson novel and it’s a debut I’m guessing the author has more in store for readers where Chris is concerned. I’m not sure, given the ending (which I won’t reveal), how that is going to work so I shall be interested to see what Jon Richter comes up with next but I hope it’s as eclectic a read as this one is.

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